U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today submitted a request for an additional $7.1 million to complete construction at the Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, funding needed to close the gap between projected costs and actual needs to finish the project.

Domenici is asking that the FY2004 Interior Appropriations Bill include the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funding to support the Navajo Prep project. The request is among a number of projects from northwest New Mexico supported by Domenici for federal funding, including education-related bids for the Crownpoint Institute of Technology and other institutions.

"There will be incredible pressure to control increases in non-defense spending in 2004, but I am committed to working for New Mexico projects within the limits set," Domenici said. "The Navajo Prep project is moving along well, but there is a need for more funding to finish the project. My request represents the difference in what the BIA estimated and what is actually needed to finish rebuilding this campus."

Domenici said the BIA has used flawed cost estimates to determine that the Navajo Prep project could be completed for $16.4 million. In fact, the actual cost to complete the project is set at $21.7 million.

Domenici is a member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and will help craft the FY2004 bill that will fund the Department of Interior and its agencies, including the BIA. The subcommittee is expected to soon begin development of its FY2004 funding measure.